Steamoline: a gas-electric-steam power hybrid automobile

ABSTRACT

The conventional automobile is powered solely by gasoline. Recent automobiles have been produced which incorporate electric motors either in tandem with a gasoline-powered engine or alone. This improvement aims to add an external-combustion steam engine to the mix. The envisioned automobile can be thought of as a gas-electric-steam power trihybrid automobile. By utilizing steam power, the fuel efficiency of the current state of automotive technology can be significantly augmented. The envisioned automobile is powered primarily by a steam engine along with an electric motor and a gasoline-powered boiler. The automobile uses the electric motor to start and after warming-up utilizes a steam powered external combustion engine whose steam is produced by a boiler which utilizes gasoline or other hydrocarbon as a fuel source.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The field of endeavor to which this invention pertains is primarily thatof transportation. It attempts to improve the fuel efficiency of thecurrent automotive vehicle. The information known is that there is anubiquitous presence of the gasoline-powered automobile in the UnitedStates. Gasoline is a fuel and energy source that can be classified as anon-renewable resource. The combustion of which produces exhaust gasesknown to adversely affect climate change. By improving the efficiency bywhich automotive vehicles burn gasoline, exhaust gas emissions can bereduced and fuel supply increased. It is toward this problem that thisinvention is oriented.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Current research has been undertaken to utilize alternative fuels toimprove fuel efficiency and to reduce carbon emissions. Recently, therehas been an idea to hybridize the gasoline-powered automotive vehiclewith an electric motor. This has proven quite advantageous indeed assuch vehicles exhibit fuel efficiency approximately twice that of theirconventional counterparts. There has also been a push towards producingautomotives capable of operating solely by the mechanism of the electricmotor. This too seems to be capable of increasing fuel efficiency whilereducing carbon emissions. The object of this invention is to continuealong the thought processes of these two aforementioned innovations.What this invention adds is the utilization of steam power. This will beaccomplished by the manufacture of an automotive powered by an electricmotor, steam engine, and small hydrocarbon powered boiler. In thissetup, an automotive vehicle can be produced which improves upon thealready superior fuel efficiency and reduced carbon emissions of the“gasoline-electric” hybrid already realized.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The envisioned automobile is powered by a combination of the externalcombustion steam engine utilized in the earliest automobiles, anelectric motor, and a gasoline-powered boiler. The gasoline-poweredautomobile is well established. The gasoline-electric hybrid automobilehas recently proven quite advantageous in terms of fuel efficiency. Thesolely electric-powered automobile is still somewhat in the works at thetime of writing. What is new is the addition of a steam engine as theprimary provider of motive force. This is an improvement over thetried-and-true predecessor automobile. While falling short of“reinventing the wheel,” this improvement is quite feasible and possibleof producing automobiles with much improved fuel efficiency and reducedcarbon emissions. The manufacture of which can be quite easily performedat existing United States automobile production facilities usingexisiting protocol with but minor modification. As with any progress infuel efficiency for automobiles, by reducing carbon emissions andconsuming less fuel, our nation can become less dependent upon foreignoil sources and proactively combat climate change and its loomingimplications.

The claims hereby put forth include the following. An automotive can bemanufactured which is powered primarily by a relatively simpleold-fashioned steam engine hybridized with an electric motor hybridizedwith a small conventional gasoline-powered boiler used to power thesteam engine. The main drawback of the exclusively steam-poweredautomobile is the delay in starting while waiting for steam to beproduced and pressurized. Also, exhaust steam was lost to theatmosphere. However, this was fixed by the inclusion of the condenser inlater steam-powered automotives.

The gas-electric-steam hybrid automobile solves this problem in much thesame way as the gas-electric hybrid does. An electric motor is used topower the vehicle upon starting and after full steam pressure has beenattained in the boiler apparatus, the main motive force is then achievedby primary steam external-combustion engine.

The boiler is powered by conventional gasoline or alternative fuels suchas ethanol. The electric motor is powered by high charge capacitybatteries much like the Toyota Prius. It is also recharged by theutilization of regenerative braking, wherein the kinetic and thermalenergy of braking the vehicle powers a generator to recharge the batterypack. Also, in addition to this, there can be the inclusion ofphotovoltaic cells into the chassis of the vehicle concentrated on thefront and rear fenders as well as the roof to incorporate solar energyto recharge the battery pack. By having photovoltaic cells on the bumperand front fender, incident headlight received by night driving isharnessed. Photovoltaic cells on the dash and/or roof allow passivesolar charging of the battery pack. Upon driving, the battery charge isreplenished by generators once the steam engine has engaged.

Fuel is required to power the boiler to create the steam pressurenecessary to drive the main motive component, the steam engine. Thisboiler can be powered by gasoline or perhaps other alternative fuelssuch as ethanol, corn oil, or even by electric resistive heat powercreated by the electric generators. This last vision can operate in thesame manner as the heating apparatus on an electric stove.

In essence, this improvement retains the vast majority of technicalfeatures of the current state of the automotive art. It reshuffles thepower sources however. The envisioned vehicle is what can be thought ofas a ‘trihybrid’ vehicle. In as much as that it utilizes thehybridization of the old, the new, and the different: the conventionalsteam engine, the modern electric motor, and the gasoline/ethanolpowered boiler/furnace apparatus.

Preliminary calculations indicate that such an automobile might becapable of improving the already superior fuel efficiency of thegas-electric hybrid automotive.

1. A more fuel-efficient automobile can quite feasibly be manufacturedby utilizing an external-combustion conventional steam engine as theprimary producer of motive force accompanied by both an electric motorand a gasoline or alternative fuel powered boiler.